For a time, it was said Ireland’s biggest export was its young people. For many in the LGBT+ community, Ireland was too small for them to really be open about their sexuality, and they let to become the people they already were in countries that could ofer more. While circumstances have changed, many still leave home for work, love, or adventure. Here we proile Irish people who have made their lives abroad, but also, the new members of our Irish queer family, who have travelled across the globe and found a new home in Ireland.

TREVOR CARROLL

Originally from Ireland, Trevor now lives in Vancouver.

We were in the depths of a recession and the constant negativity was hard to bear. was also in a long-distance relationship with a guy who lived in london, so moving was an obvious step to take.

What miss most from home - everything sounds funnier in a Dublin accent. was in Mexico recently with a friend and all we did was watch Tallafornia and Sheila Sheik videos.

Now live in vancouver, Canada and love the outdoors lifestyle. We have the ocean and mountains on our doorstep, so during winter we go skiing and in the summer we hit the beach and go hiking. realised when moved here that drank way too much, but now I’m more healthy and active. There’s still a drinking culture – we have some of the best craft beer breweries on the west coast – but like that it’s not the focus.

Vancouver’s gay scene is small – on a par with Dublin’s – so there’s a nice community feel to it. Pride here is amazing. The whole city comes alive with beach parties and boat cruises – even straight soccer teams celebrate it. The bars/club nights are fun but they could do with better music – miss the good ol’ days of Mother. just had a lashback to the entire dance loor recreating Kylie’s ‘Slow’ video while Wolfgang Tillmans himself took photographs. legendary.

DAVID O’BRIEN

David has been in London for over four years.

I moved to London in 2014 to work on a Tv series telling Cilla Black’s life story and never came back! had just come out of a relationship and it seemed like the perfect time to experience life somewhere else.

I miss how easy in Dublin it is to get a gang together for a night out. I With London being so sprawling it is a lot harder to organise on the spur of the moment. it goes without saying that miss my friends, family and a decent pint of Guinness, the craic just isn’t the same as at home.

I don’t miss the fact that everyone knows everyone back in Dublin, especially on the gay scene. in London you can meet people, have a laugh and never bump into them again, in Dublin there is no such thing as a one night stand as you will continually bump into that person over and over again. Best to be kind to everyone as they will be back to haunt you, guaranteed.